Chapter 80: The Price of Victory

Stan clutched his head, collapsing to his knees on the ground. Hay, who had raised his staff for another strike to the back of Stan’s head, paused. Another blow might truly kill him this time.

Just then, Dennis put his fingers to his lips and let out a piercing whistle.

“S-Styles wins!”

A great clamor erupted among the spectators. The cries of those who had lost their bets mingled with the shouts of triumph from those who had won.

Renki, startled by the sudden noise, jumped in their midst.

Hay lowered the arm that held the staff. As he withdrew his spirit power, the two staves dissolved into dust and scattered.

Hay dusted off his hands and crouched before Stan, who was gritting his teeth, stifling groans of pain. Blood streamed from Stan’s head, dripping onto the ground.

“It seems I’ve won.”

Hay spoke with serene nonchalance before the bleeding man.

Stan clearly longed to retort, but the words wouldn’t come. The throbbing pain in his head made coherent speech impossible.

Hay reached out and took Stan’s wrist.

“Are you alright? You’re bleeding quite a lot.”

“Do I look alright?”

Stan wrenched his hand away from Hay, his face contorted in pain as he spat out the words.

“No, you don’t look alright.”

“Are you trying to provoke me?”

“Yes.”

Hay considered calling for a healer, but decided against it. Instead, he conjured healing water in his palm and offered it to Stan.

Stan glared at Hay with bloodshot eyes, as if to ask if he was offering a cure after inflicting the wound. Still, he didn’t refuse, quickly taking the healing water and drinking it.

“Eight gold, payable later.”

“You madman.”

Stan cursed, utterly dumbfounded by Hay’s words.

Yet, he didn’t say he wouldn’t pay the money.

Stan pushed himself up and slumped onto the ground. The bleeding had stopped, but his blood-soaked hair had turned a darker shade.

“Damn it, throwing dirt in my eyes.”

With some dust still in his eyes, Stan rubbed his eyelids with the back of his hand. Even though his head wound was healed, the redness in his eyes persisted.

“That’s just how fights are, isn’t it? Did you expect a fair fight like those knights outside?”

“Of course not. But I certainly didn’t expect you to throw dirt in my eyes.”

Stan grumbled, roughly wiping the blood from his face and hair with his sleeve. His light-colored shirt was now stained red.

“So? What’s your wish?”

“Wish? Oh, right.”

Remembering their agreement that the winner would get a wish, Hay fell into thought for a moment. His deliberation was brief.

He rose to his feet and extended a hand to Stan.

“It might be embarrassing for Stan to hear it here, so should I tell you when we get home?”

Hay feigned consideration for Stan. Stan took Hay’s hand and got up.

“What could be more embarrassing than this right now? Just say it. I’ll grant anything, as long as it’s not against the law.”

Stan mumbled, his words echoing Grena’s response when he had demanded she grant all his wishes.

“It’s nothing much. Nothing difficult either.”

Indeed, Hay’s wish was insignificant. It wasn’t grand enough to even be called a wish.

“Then what is it?”

“Are you sure you want me to say it here?”

“I told you to say it.”

“Alright. I’ll say it then.”

Hay drew his staff, which was some distance away, using the power of wind. He casually slung the staff, which fit perfectly in his hand, over his shoulder and spoke.

“Call me ‘Hyung-nim.'”

“Huh?”

“I said, call me ‘Hyung-nim.'”

Stan initially seemed to doubt his ears, as if he’d misheard something. But then, his face crumpled as if he’d bitten into something foul.

He stared at Hay with eyes that seemed to ask, ‘Really? Seriously? That’s what you wish for?’

Hay had no intention of retracting his words.

“Go on.”

As Hay urged him with an expressionless face, Stan’s mouth gaped open like a person who had lost their voice.

After a moment, he grabbed Hay’s arm and spoke.

“Styles. How about we make it best two out of three instead? I’ll grant you three wishes.”

Hay slowly shook his head at Stan’s proposal.

“No, thanks.”

****

Stan refused Hay’s demand and immediately fled with Renki. Their excuse was that they were holding an outdoor training session.

Hay found it immensely amusing.

When he shouted, “Call me ‘Hyung-nim’ when you come back!” after Stan’s retreating back, Stan let out a peculiar shriek.

He must have truly detested the idea of calling Hay ‘Hyung-nim’ to abandon training at his own home and run off with the child.

Hay anticipated Lorelai would find the story highly entertaining tomorrow.

Returning to Stan’s house from the training grounds, Hay grabbed a quick lunch of bread and fruit. Normally, after lunch, he would return to the training grounds to spar with the guardians until exhaustion, but he decided against it today.

After his spar with Stan, he had already offered to spar with the other guardians, but they had all vehemently shaken their heads, claiming they had no desire for a cracked skull.

Instead, he decided to focus on spirit magic training today.

Stepping out of Stan’s front door, Hay intended to practice in the yard, not bothering to go far. Although it was daytime, few people passed by Stan’s house, so he felt no inconvenience.

After completing his basic training, he decided to attempt summoning a fire spirit, the area where he had made the least progress.

First, he needed a bonfire, so he gathered the firewood piled in the backyard and ignited a blaze. Once the flames grew considerably, Hay attempted to commune with the fire.

He could feel the fire spirits whispering near the bonfire. They were highly curious, circling around Hay. He found it amusing.

“If you’re so curious, don’t just hover. Show yourselves.”

When Hay showed interest, they would shyly hide back within the flames, as if overcome with shyness. Perhaps they were simply wary.

“Haven’t we gotten close enough? I feel like I’ve put in a lot of effort to befriend you all.”

At that, the fire spirits whispered in Hay’s ear, seemingly telling him it wasn’t enough.

“Not enough? Well, I suppose that’s possible. But Kasa, think carefully. If you contract with me, you can immediately become Raon, a higher spirit. You all know that, don’t you?”

He attempted persuasion and appeasement, but his words fell on deaf ears. He could almost hear the fire spirits giggling. They seemed to be deliberating amongst themselves whether to answer his summons or not.

They were clearly reveling in his overtures.

Damn spirits.

“Mr. Styles?”

Hay opened his eyes and withdrew the hand he had extended towards the bonfire.

The voice was female. Turning around, he saw Richen Noy and the children with her.

Had she overheard him talking to himself by the bonfire? He felt a flicker of awkwardness.

He stood up, wiping his palms on his trousers.

“Oh, Healer Noy? What brings you here?”

“It’s been a while. How have you been?”

Richen bowed her head politely in greeting. The children followed suit.

“Hello!”

“Hi, white-haired mister!”

“Oh, hello.”

“No puppy today?”

“Uh, Nora isn’t here today.”

“Why not?”

“Daisy, what kind of talk is that?”

Richen placed a hand on Daisy’s head, admonishing her. Daisy’s lips quivered.

“Is there something I can help you with?”

Hay scratched his head and approached them. Daisy peered behind Hay, seemingly looking for Nora.

“It’s about yesterday,” Richen replied.

“Yesterday? Ah…”

“I heard a major accident was narrowly avoided, and Mr. Styles saved my siblings. My apologies for the delayed thanks. Thank you for saving them.”

Richen spoke in a formal tone, bowing her head once more. Yet, her eyes conveyed genuine sincerity. Hay felt a touch of embarrassment.

“Please raise your head. The important thing is that the children weren’t hurt. By the way, I heard your sibling was facing disciplinary action. Are they alright?”

Irish Noy, was it? Stan hadn’t told him what happened to her, the sibling who had illegally taken out the magic stone. He had fallen asleep early yesterday and forgotten about it.

“I heard they’re being referred to the disciplinary committee today, but they’ll be fine. It will probably be a salary reduction, or at worst, expulsion from the tower. Thank you for asking.”

Richen smiled brightly and extended a wide basket she was holding to Hay.

“It’s nothing special, but please accept it. It’s homemade apple pie. I’m sorry this is all I can offer.”

“Mister! These are the cookies *we* baked!”

Following Richen, Geo offered Hay a small basket. Hay accepted that one as well. Peeking under the cloth, he saw the basket was filled with enticing pies and clumsily shaped cookies.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have… Thank you. I’ll enjoy them.”

The tension visibly drained from Richen’s face at Hay’s words. The stiffness in her shoulders seemed to ease.

Just then, Daisy stamped her foot impatiently at Hay’s feet.

“Mister! That rabbit-shaped cookie there, *I* made it! And the puppy-shaped one too!”

Hay looked through the cookie basket, but he couldn’t distinguish which were rabbits and which were puppies. There were a few shaped like flowers, but the rest were a chaotic mess.

“Yes, I see. There’s a rabbit, and a puppy. No cat?”

Still, Hay smiled brightly and pretended to recognize them. Daisy, pleased by this, giggled and nodded.

“There is! There’s a kitty too! Look for it!”

“Really? Shall we look for it together?”

“Yeah, okay! Oh! A puppy!”

Suddenly, Daisy dashed towards the bonfire behind Hay. Richen, her face flustered, chased after Daisy and scooped her up.

“Daisy! Where’s a puppy?”

“There was a puppy just now!”

Daisy protested, but Richen ignored her and bowed politely to Hay.

“I apologize. We should get going now. Thank you again.”

“Oh, don’t go yet. Why don’t you come inside and have some with me?”

Hay offered. But Richen shook her head.

“I appreciate the offer, but it’s time for the children’s studies. Children, say goodbye to Mr. Styles.”

“Goodbye, Mister! We really enjoyed the peanuts yesterday!” Lily chirped brightly, followed by Geo.

“Thanks for the food!”

“It was delicious!”

“Daisy, you need to use polite language. It’s not good to be informal with adults.”

“It’s alright!”

Hay chuckled softly, ruffling the children’s hair. A smile spread across Richen’s lips as well. She bowed once more.

“We’ll be going.”

“Yes, please do.”

Watching Richen and the children depart, Hay turned back to the bonfire.

A puppy.

Hay walked to the bonfire and slumped onto the ground. He picked an unidentifiable cookie from the basket and munched on it, gazing into the flames.

“Kasa.”

The flames flickered.

Then, a tendril of flame lashed out, snatching one of the cookies from inside. It was a cookie shaped distinctly like a fox. Perhaps that was the ‘kitty’ cookie Daisy had mentioned.

The cookie, drawn into the flames, burned away with a faint scent of charring. He could almost hear mischievous laughter.

“Don’t be like that. Let’s make a contract.”

Kasa did not respond. Hay chewed on another cookie.

He had a feeling he would contract with Kasa sooner or later.

When evening arrived, Stan did not return; only Renki did. He must have truly loathed the idea of calling Hay ‘Hyung-nim’, considering Hay had told him to do so upon his return.